The Dark Secrets Behind Each of Donald Trump’s 3 Marriages, Revealed

We seem to know most of the details about Donald Trump’s presidency through his tweets. But the details of Trump’s three marriages over the past 40 years are more of a mystery.

Trump first married Ivana Zelníčková in 1977. What followed their vows included a messy affair, a publicized divorce, and a short marriage to American actress Marla Maples. After Trump and Maples’ split, he married the current first lady, Melania Trump. Let’s take a closer look at the secrets in these marriages, including Melania’s marriage manifesto.

Melania turned Donald down at first

Donald and Melania Trump | Alex Wong/Getty Images

Melania and Donald met at a party in 1998. Donald came with a date, but Melania caught his eye. In a pre-election interview with Barbara Walters, Melania admits she wouldn’t give Donald her number when he asked for it, but instead took his number and called him later. They met a week later and “great chemistry” led to where they are now.

Next: Is this why Melania has lasted so long as Trump’s wife?

Donald likes that Melania is less needy than his other wives

She can hold her own. | Giphy

Seeing as this is Donald’s third marriage, he’s chosen someone who appears to be much different than Ivana and Marla. While his previous two wives seemed to be more high maintenance, The New Yorker reports Melania says she’s “not a nagging wife.” Donald has reportedly not taken much interest in her home country of Slovenia or her culture, but for Melania, that’s OK. “I’m not that kind of wife who would say, ‘Learn this’ or ‘Learn that,'” she says. As far as the publication could tell, she doesn’t even tease Donald but rather obediently compliments him.

Next: Melania might have been terrified of Donald winning the White House.

Melania may not want to be the first lady

Melania may have gotten more than she bargained for. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

According to Vanity Fair, Trump’s official story of his family agreeing he should run for president may have some holes. A former campaign aide told of a conversation in which Melania told the aide that she didn’t want Donald to run because she was terrified he might win.

According to another Trump insider, “She never wanted this, and never had any interest.” Stephanie Grisham, Melania’s spokesperson, stated that “Mrs. Trump has always been supportive of all her husband’s endeavors.”

Next: Marla approached Ivana before the marriage had ended.

Marla approached Ivana before the marriage had ended

Marla was not afraid to show her love for the Trump. | Gareth Cattermole/Getty Images

In her memoir, Ivana claims she knew exactly when her marriage with Donald was over: December 1989. Marla Maples, soon to be Donald’s second wife, was having a very public affair with Ivana’s husband when she approached her.

“This young blonde woman approached me out of the blue and said ‘I’m Marla and I love your husband. Do you?'” writes Ivana Trump. “It was unladylike but I was in shock.” Trump married Maples in 1993 after divorcing Ivana.

Next: Does Trump deserve any credit for raising successful kids?

Ivana wants credit for their kids’ success

Ivana Marie Trump has previously stated that she alone raised Donald Jr., Eric, and Ivanka following her and Donald’s divorce. “When each one finished college, I said to my ex-husband, ‘Here is the finished product. Now it’s your turn,'” she wrote.

Ivana makes it crystal clear in her memoir, Raising Trump, that she was responsible for the children before the divorce and had sole custody after it. “Some people — including Hillary Clinton — consider [the kids] to be Donald Trump’s finest accomplishments,” she wrote, “I believe the credit for raising such great kids belongs to me.”

Next: Ivana wants Donald to keep doing this.

Ivana encourages Donald to keep tweeting

Using Twitter is encouraged. | Bethany Clarke/Getty Images

Ivana told CBS Sunday Morning that she, unlike many Americans, encourages Donald to keep using Twitter. “I said, ‘I think you should tweet. It’s a new way, a new technology. And if you want to get your words across rightly, without telling The New York Times, which is going to twist every single word of yours, this is how you get your message out,’” Ivana told Jim Axelrod.

She said that they speak about once a week and that the President asks for her advice on his tweets.

Next: Both Marla and Ivana had this in common.

Marla and Ivana had church in common

You can’t help who you see in church. | Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images

Maples claimed that despite significant differences between her and Donald, they found common ground — often in Marble Collegiate Church on Fifth Avenue, where Donald and Ivana were married. According to Vanity Fair, he and Marla rendezvoused there as well. “Not that we went together, but we would both be there on occasion,” Maples said.

Maples was baptized through total immersion when she was nine, and she faithfully attended Baptist church services every Sunday thereafter. Vanity Fair also quoted her saying, “I never had respect for anyone who didn’t honor their marriage vows.”

Melania has a marriage manifesto

“I’m not a nagging wife,” Melania has declared a few times. Signs like her relative silence in the White House point to this statement’s truth.

“She enjoys her role of stepping back and letting him take center stage,” says decorator friend William Eubanks, who spent Thanksgiving with the Trumps at Mar-a-Lago. According to her old friend Lisa Bytner, Melania’s attitude has always been, “live and let live.”

Next: NYC pays a small fortune every week to protect Melania.

NYC pays $1 million per week to protect Melania

That’s a whole lot of money for just two people. | Spencer Platt/Getty Images

New Yorkers are paying both literally and figuratively for Melania to remain in the city with her son, Barron, 11. It’s reportedly costing the city about $1 million per week to protect her and Barron, and the Columbia Prep community is struggling to deal with the ramifications of Barron’s presence.

A parent claimed that pick-up has become a complicated ordeal with choppers occasionally hovering overhead. A suspicious truck that was parked outside caused the school to go on lockdown. “The parents are very unhappy,” says one, who believes no president should have a child at a New York City school. “We’re not geared for it. The kids feel the anxiety, too.”